Bonding
by XoxMountainGirlxoX
Summary: Two friends have a great time getting reacquainted with each other over dinner.


**A/N:** My response to aprylynn's NCIS LA Hiatus Fic Challenge. The fourth theme was "unlikely pairing" and it could have been either a friendship fic or a romance fic. I decided to go with the friendship side.

I hope you like!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

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Kensi smiled at the man who was sitting across from her at the table. She had decided that they needed a little time, just the two of them. The only time they had any time alone was before two certain people came into their lives and after she had come back from Afghanistan.

She had asked him on a date that evening, after work was done and he was making his way down from the OPS center. Callen, Sam, Deeks and Nell had all chuckled as the poor guy sputtered before Kensi put him out of his misery and explained that it was just a friends date. He agreed and that was where they were now.

"So Kensi, how have you been?" He asked, trying to end the awkward silence that had coming over them in the minutes that they had been sitting there. Just because they were friends didn't mean that conversing was easy.

"I've been good." She replied.

"Good…..good." He stated, looking down at the table and started fooling around with the napkin, folding and crumpling nervously. He was starting to feel like this was a bad idea.

"Eric, relax." Kensi ordered, smirking at the fidgeting tech operator. He sighed and nodded.

"Okay, so what do we talk about?" He asked.

"I don't know. What is on your mind?" She replied. He shrugged.

"What have you been up to lately?" He asked even though he had a clue what she had been doing.

"Nothing much. We've had a lot of cases and not much time between them to do anything, but you knew that. Just the regular, everyday stuff that a person would do after work and on the weekends." She said.

"What is regular, everyday stuff in the world of Kensi Blye?" He asked.

"Go to the gym, do house work…..though Deeks says I don't, I actually do…..cook meals, watch TV, read books. What do you do?" She asked.

"Mostly the same things, except I add gaming to the list." He stated with a smile.

"What is the game of the month now?" She asked. He had told her a while ago that he had started an online gaming blog and that he plays one game a month and then reviews it. She watched as his eyes brightened.

"Well, this month is a-mazing! They just brought out…." He said, starting to tell her about a new war game that he got. She smiled as she listened to him and saw how animated and excited he got.

She thought back to the days when she worked from OPS with him and Dom and how adorable he could be when he got flustered or excited. She was glad that she asked him on this "date" and got to reconnect with him again.

It wasn't the same, hanging out with the others where she would mostly talk to the other guys, occasionally flirt with Deeks, and he and Nell would have their tech talk going on. During those times, if the others would try to pull him into the conversation, he would be very reserved and very careful of what he said, not wanting to be teased or be annoying.

This, seeing him act like this and talk like this, was like a breath of fresh air to her. This is the Eric, her friend, that she remembers. The one who helped get her acquainted with the OPS center and had, like right now, animatedly explained every inch of the place.

Her smile widened as she thought on those things and Eric stopped talking when he noticed it.

"What? Do I have something in my teeth?" He asked, putting a hand over his mouth. She shook her head and reached across to pull his arm down.

"No, Eric. Just thinking. That game sound really cool." She stated.

"It is." He said.

"So, how are you and Deeks doing?" He continued. Shocking her with such a bold question.

"We are good." She said, knowing that whatever was said here wouldn't be said elsewhere.

"And what about you and Nell?" She asked. A shy smile came upon his face.

"We are good." He said.

"Good. We need good." She said.

"That we do." He said with a small smile. At that moment their food arrived and they only glanced at each other before digging in, both silently promising to do this again.

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 **Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think!**

 **I did write another response for this theme and will be posting it soon! I actually had a few dozen ideas floating around in my mind, but I held back and only did two of them. This theme was the one that prompted me the most!**


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